Pensby County Primary
“Anderson.”
“Here.”
“Armitage.”
“Here.”
“Breary”
“Here.”
Calm Miss Dawber with her fountain pen
neatly inserts an oblique line across the box
against the name of each of us present.
Like so: \
“Carter.”
Silence.
Miss Dawber looks up over her specs.
Inserts a perfect circle in the box
against the name of this absent child.
Like so: O
And so on, through the register
for that long lost day in the 1950s.
The same every morning in that classroom
with its tall windows operated by hooked poles.
Miss Dawber, business-like, behind her desk.
We kids, well-drilled, two to a desk before her.
Try to remember all those names.
Call the register today, how many of us,
Miss Dawber and her class, are still here?
Great! I like the two ‘like so’ lines. I wonder if you need the lines ‘against the names of each of us present,’ and ‘against the name of this absent child’? (Sorry, I’ve been practicing slashing lines from my poems and now it’s spreading..) I like the way the poem ends, wondering who’s left……………………